Home Insecurity
"Home Insecurity" is the third episode in the first season of The Venture Bros. Plot Baron Ünderbheit, iron-jawed ruler of Ünderland, receives updates on the nation's status from his three trusted advisers: Catclops, Girl Hitler and Manic 8-Ball. The details of the reports demonstrate that Ünderland is a bizarre dictatorship of compulsory legislation, and also utilises slaves and child labour. After their status reports, Ünderbheit informs them that each of them has betrayed him (and therefore the country). The Baron lulls them into a false sense of security by stating that they merely exiled, and each receive a parting gift. They are confused to the nature of the gifts, when suddenly they realise that Ünderbheit has left the room, and killer tigers with bombs attached are released into the room. Outside, Ünderbheit informs his underling Manservant that he has only one enemy left: Dr. Venture. At the Venture Compound, Team Venture's bodyguard Brock Samson is packing for his annual vacation. Dr. Venture pleads with him to wait a few more days until he can complete the compound's security system, but Brock is unsympathetic and drives off in his Dodge Charger. Hank Venture also wants to join Brock, but is denied. Hank's actions cause him to argue with Venture, which makes Dean Venture upset. Nearing his camping destination, Brock is stopped by an armed soldier who informs him, after flashing his Office of Secret Intelligence ID card, that the area has been closed for reasons of national security. Brock ignores the guard and proceeds to his planned camp-site. That night, Venture falls asleep at his workbench. H.E.L.P.eR. finds him and carries him lovingly to bed. Returning to the lab, the robot notices the plans Venture had been working on: a new security construct named G.U.A.R.D.O. Assuming that the new project is intended as his own replacement, H.E.L.P.eR. packs a few possessions and leaves the compound in "sadness". Brock's peaceful evening by the campfire is disturbed by rustling noises nearby. He tracks the intruder until he finds a tall, hairy, humanoid creature and engages it in hand-to-hand combat. Soon he is attacked by a bionically-augmented man in a red track suit, who Brock neutralizes by kicking him in the still-natural testicles. Back at the compound, an Ünderland agent releases a scorpion into Venture's bedroom at the same time that Henchman 24 (on the Monarch's orders) gingerly drops a tarantula into another window of the same room. The two underlings spot each other and start arguing; Venture wakes up to find two venomous creatures fighting inches from his face and slaps a button on his night-stand. Steel shutters close over every door and window in the complex while Venture and his two sons are dropped into a reinforced panic room. Hank sees the spider and scorpion still crawling on his father and smacks Venture in the head with a nearby fire extinguisher. Dean exits the room to look for a first aid kit but encounters G.U.A.R.D.O. The massive robot, apparently not completely programmed yet, warns Dean that he is an intruder and chases him back into panic room. Venture awakens and explains that he fell asleep before programming G.U.A.R.D.O. to distinguish friends from foes. They are temporarily safe, since the door is made of tempered steel... but the robot is constructed of the same material. Outside the compound, the two rival henchmen groups (which includes the first appearance of Henchman 21) continue to argue over who gets to kill Venture until one of them suggests calling their respective bosses. They call a truce, and the Monarch invites Ünderbheit to his Cocoon headquarters to work out a compromise. After the ceremonial attempts on each other's life (resulting in the death of three of the Monarch's henchmen), the two villains begin discussing who should retreat. Ünderbheit calls the menacing of Venture as his claim, as Ünderbheit has known Venture since college, and Venture is responsible for Ünderbheit's jaw being permanently damaged. Their lackeys, who have grown bored while waiting for instructions, begin drinking beer together and discussing their respective bosses. Brock listens sympathetically to the track-suited man, who explains that he is former astronaut Steve Summers. A horrible accident left him gravely injured, but the government saved his life by grafting bionic parts worth six million dollars into him - and then expected him to repay the cost of the operation. Rather than spend the rest of his life doing the government's dirty work, he fled into the wilderness where he met a Sasquatch (also known as a Bigfoot), who became his lover. When the group suddenly hears troops nearby searching for Summers, Brock agrees to help them escape. Driving away from his campsite, Brock is stopped by the same soldier. He indicates his passengers and explains that he is giving a couple of Vietnam War veterans a ride home. After the soldier lets him pass, a second soldier points out that the "vets" were a shaved Sasquatch and Steve wearing a wig of its hair. Safe for the moment, Steve thanks Brock for his help. Brock grunts in acknowledgement, still disturbed by his discovery (while shaving him) that Sasquatch is male. The gathered henchmen trade stories and get progressively more intoxicated on alcohol. Their restlessness and drunkenness win out as they decide to subject the Venture compound to childish vandalism. Just outside the fence, H.E.L.P.eR. stands at a bus stop and ignores Venture's pleas over the Communicator Watch for help. The boys persuade their father to apologize, and the robot relents. H.E.L.P.eR. attempts to plug into the compound's security system but accidentally shorts out the power for a few seconds. This "reboots" G.U.A.R.D.O., who finally stomps away from the panic room door. As the steel shutters raise, the security robot spots the rampaging henchmen outside and begins attacking the newly-found intruders. At long last, The Monarch and Ünderbheit reach an agreement: they will cooperate and share the glory of killing their mutual enemy. None of their henchmen respond to their calls, however. Back at the compound, dozens of uniform-clad bodies are sprawled in the aftermath of obvious violence. Brock pulls up in his Dodge Charger and, distracted by the carnage, hits G.U.A.R.D.O. and disables it. H.E.L.P.eR. stands outside the panic room, blocking Venture and his sons from leaving until they apologize further. Episode Cast *'James Urbaniak' as Dr. Venture. Catclops, G.U.A.R.D.O., "Misc. Ünderbheit Henchmen", "Solider #2". *'Michael Sinterniklaas' as Dean Venture. *'Patrick Warburton' as Brock Samson. *'Christopher McCulloch' as Hank Venture, the Monarch, Steve Summers, Sasquatch, Manservant, "Misc. Monarch Henchmen". *'T. Ryder Smith' as Baron Ünderbheit, "Solider #1". *'Doc Hammer' as Dr. Girlfriend, "Monarch Henchman #1". *'Mia Barron' as Girl Hitler. *'Soul-Bot' as H.E.L.P.eR. Cultural References *Steve Summers is a parody of Colonel Steve Austin from The Six Million Dollar Man. His name comes from a combination of Steve Austin's first name and the last name of the The Bionic Woman character Jaime Sommers. Several episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man featured a sasquatch, who was an ally of Austin. *Dean and Hank both sport Underoos, a line of children's underwear that first became popular in the 1980s. Dean wears a Spider-Man pair while Hank wears an Aquaman pair. Both characters wear these Underoos in several subsequent episodes. *This episode firmly establishes Ünderbheit as an homage and parody of Doctor Doom from The Fantastic Four comics; from his dictatorial rule of his home country to his disfigurement which he blames on a college rival who is now his arch-enemy. In the earlier Dia de los Dangerous! episode, before he'd appeared on-screen, The Monarch referred to him as a "dime-store Doctor Doom". *G.U.A.R.D.O.'s monitor displaying his master's face is a reference to a robot in the movie Robocop 2. *In the "Ghost Story" episode of the sitcom Rules of Engagement, Patrick Warburton's (voice of Brock Samson) character relates a dream to his wife in which he and Lee Majors (voice of Steve Austin) are hunting Bigfoot. *The round weapon the Baron throws at the Monarch shares it's design with the Orbs from the Phantasm film series. Connections to Other Episodes *This episode sees the introduction of the characters Baron Ünderbheit (though previously mentioned), Catclops, Girl Hitler, Manic 8-Ball, Manservant, Henchman 21, G.U.A.R.D.O., Steve Summers, and Sasquatch, as well as the Office of Secret Intelligence. *Before Brock goes off on vacation, he refers to Hank (who is sporting a feathered headdress) as "Runs-with-scissors". In the season two opener, Powerless in the Face of Death, Dean is seen running with safety scissors and then being impaled in a death montage. *Baron Ünderbheit explains that he lost his jaw in a lab accident where he was partnered with Dr. Venture. The episode Past Tense shows Ünderbheit, jaw intact, inhabiting the same college dorm hall as Venture. It's later revealed in Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny that it was actually the Monarch who blew up the lab but it was later credited to Dr. Venture, who the Monarch was trying to kill. *The episode was shown out of order, which is evident when Underbheit displays the Tiger Balm he bought at the tag sale in Tag Sale – You're It!. *The Monarch mentions, when Dr. Girlfriend buys the wrong soda, that its like his dad did the shopping. However, this is something he's probably not actually experienced, as his parents died when he was young. Production Notes *One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For this episode, the credit reads Kimson "Shaved Bigfoot" Albert. *Publick mentioned in his LiveJournal blog that a "lost commentary" for this episode, which was cut from the season one DVD primarily due to lack of space. The audio track can be downloaded separately. References External Links Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes Category:The Venture Bros. episodes